CITY DRAINAGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4986, 16 March 1877, Page 3

CITY DRAINAGE.

TO THE EDITOE OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Snv —I' am strongly in favor-of a drainage scheme, and I have seen Mr. Climie's report in the papers, his instructions being- to carry the sewage away from the .harbor; but there is a, point or <rwo in the report which require notice. A 15in. pipe in the flattest part of Tinakori-road will not discharge 30,000 cubic feet per hour, as stated. Pro vision, is made by Mr. Climie for 1000 acres of drainage area, when the city and town belt alone occupy about 3000 acres. His cost is a lump sum for the main sewer, &c., alone; but; it was brought out at the last meeting of City Council, as one of the details not given in the printed report, that £IO,OOO a year was required for.working expenses. I now ask, is the scheme to cost £BO,OOO, or £IOO,OOO, or £200,000 ? Sir John Hawkshaw, C.E., as a Royal Commissioner, in a recent report to Parliament, stated that town sewers ought to be of sufficient size to take falls of rain of-one quarter of au inch in twenty-four hours. A quarter of an inch over the-Wellington- area, city and town belt, would amount to over 15,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. I don'tthink Mr. Climie has made provision for this —to which has to be, added the ordinary water supply; no provision is made for subsoil drainage. With regard to irrigation, Sir John Hawkshaw adds that the level and"contour, as well as the soil, must be suitable. Now, the flat sands at Lyell Bay are every way unsuitable to sewage farming, not to speak of the intolerable and, unwholesome nuisance it'wouldbe so close to the city. According to Sir Joseph Bazalgette—one of the first authorities—as a commercial venture it would prove a failure. . -,..',-,

i To conclude, lam of. opinioH that the only, plan to deal with the sewage of Wellington is by conveying it by the shortest route into a part of Cook Strait,-where the deep, water and currents would effectually dispose of it. , I think that the enormous cost that wauld attend the proper distribution of the sewage .at, Lyell Bay has been completely I am, &c, ■ '. i. Ho.OSEHOLDEB. Wellington, March 14. '-.-.,•